Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter or Inuyasha is mine. I don't claim the characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Rumiko Takahashi. I also don't make a profit from writing this. Thank you.
A/N: I got a review asking me to get a beta to help me with my grammar and writing, and I do agree with him/her. So if you want to be my beta, please PM me at anytime and I will get back to you as soon as I can. I will like to apologize but it will be a chapter or two before I get to the Inuyasha part. Don't worry, it is coming very soon. It's just not as soon as I had hoped. The tally is in about whether or not Luna would go to Japan or not and she will be going to Japan with Harry. I would like to thank all the people who had reviewed and I would really like to thank Setsuna24. She has been writing to me, giving me ideas and information that I needed to continue my story. So, thank you very much.
Warnings: Mentions of child abuse, foul language, and some bashing.
"Demon" – Talking
'Demon' – Thinking
Chapter 11
-First Memory-
It was when he spoke to the snake at the Dueling Club that everything went downhill. Even though he got the snake to leave the Hufflepuff alone, the school still turned its backs on him, blaming him for the whole situation. 'I guess they don't care that I am not the one who set the snake on the boy or that I prevented him from being bit. Oh no, because I can speak a language that they can't, I have to be evil and I somehow wanted that snake to turn on the student body.' He thought snidely.
After that incident, the students went out of their way to either push him down, hit their shoulder against his, or they took great pleasure in hexing him. At first he only got one or two hexes a day, but when the teachers just turned a blind eye to the whole affair, the hexes started to come even more frequently and become even more cruel and humiliating. He had been to the Hospital Wing three times this week already. It was only Tuesday! 'If this keeps up I won't survive.' Hethought sadly and bitterly.
What made it worse was that Ron and Hermione would only talk to him during class, which they couldn't do very much of in the first place. When all the classes of the day were done, they would make excuses to ditch him to do whatever it was they wanted to do without him there. The only consolation he had was that they had not hurt him in any way like the other student had or had behaved like the Professors with their lack of care that he was being hurt. He was hurt however, when he realized they had been distancing themselves from him, as if he was sick and they didn't want to catch his disease.
He had taken to wearing his Invisibility Cloak wherever he went to so the students wouldn't be able to hex him. At the moment he was walking in a part of the third floor corridor that hadn't been in use in years going by how dusty it was. He was looking for a place to sleep so he didn't have to worry about his dorm mates hexing him while he was sleeping. Luckily, they hadn't done so just yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before it did happen. He wasn't oblivious to the scheming looks being shot his way when they thought he wasn't looking.
He was still looking for a suitable place to sleep when he heard a familiar voice reach his ears from an unused classroom. Stopping in his tracks, he cocked his head to the side to see if he would be able to hear the voice again, to make sure he wasn't hearing things. When he heard a sound, he went back to the door he just passed and found it cracked opened a little. Peering inside, he had to hold back a gasp of confusion and surprise when he saw Ron and Professor Dumbledore standing face to face in the room. He decided to listen in (curse his curiosity always getting the better of him) to see what was going on even though he felt somewhat guilty for spying on his best friend and the Headmaster.
"How much longer must I be around that Dark wizard in training? When are you going to throw him out of this school?" Ron demanded.
'What Dark wizard in training? I don't think he's talking about the Slytherins since he only indicated one wizard and not many.' Harry thought in confusion. He didn't think all Slytherins were bad just like he didn't think all the other Houses were all good but he didn't say anything about this belief of his because he didn't want to alienate his friends and have them think he was a freak of nature for thinking that way.
"Patience, my dear boy, all is going according to plan. With the student body isolating him the way they have he will become more dependent on you for emotional support. Which, we can use to our advantage later on. There is no reason to throw him out when there is still some use we have for him."
Professor Dumbledore said calmly, which just made Ron more irritated.
"Patience? Patience? How can I be patient when that dark wizard can turn on us at any moment? I sleep in the same room as him! I don't want him to be dependent on me in the first place. When you gave me this mission, I thought it was going to be easy. I didn't think I would have to put my life at risk just to be around him." Ron said angrily.
Feeling a sinking feeling develop in his stomach, he had a guess about who Ron was referring to. 'The only wizard that is being accused of being Dark in Gryffindor is me.' He thought, very hurt by what his friend said about him. 'Wait. What mission? If they are talking about me, going by what Professor Dumbledore just said about that wizard still having some use for them, then it means they have a plan to use me in some way. What is it they are after?' He wondered worriedly.
"You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into my boy. There is no need to play dumb." Professor Dumbledore's reprimanding voice brought him back to the present. "Now, what can you tell me about the Potter boy?"
Ron fumed for a second but relented and started to talk.
"There's not much to say. He is kind of pathetic really. All he does is follow what I say and do what I do. It's annoying" he said though he was smug about it on the inside. "that, he won't do anything by himself. He's so quiet that it kind of freaks me out… the way he looks at everybody, as if he's calculating their threat level to him. He doesn't like to be touched by people he doesn't know. It took me about four months to be able to touch him without him flinching all the time. He's so skinny that all one feels is his bones through his cloths. He's not the sharpest knife around and he's really dull in personality." Ron said exasperated.
"Good. That means he has a forgettable presence. It will make it easier to make him disappear when the time comes." Professor Dumbledore contemplated. "Well, keep up the good work my boy. Oh, lemon drop?" he offered with a barmy smile while holding up the bag of sweets to Ron. Getting a shake of the head, he shrugged and popped one into his mouth then started to hum happily.
Knowing there was no more to learn and that they were about to leave the classroom, Harry started to back away from the door quietly, when he was a safe distance he turned and ran all the way back to his dorm. He didn't care if the other Gryffindors were going to be there. He wanted to shut himself away in a familiar place so he could think on what he was going to do.
When he got to the dorm, he was happy to find it was empty. It would give him time to sort out his thoughts before he had to worry about whether the others were going to hex him or not. 'If they do, I will no longer hold back and hex them as well. I will no longer be the push over like they want me to be. I have the right to walk down the hallway without fear of being hurt on all sides.' He thought determinedly. 'The only thing I can do about Ron is to avoid him as much as I can, which should be easy when he has been doing the same to me as much as he could in the first place. I will just make it easier on him.'
That is exactly what he did for the next month and a half. He also took to avoiding Hermione as well since he wasn't sure about her loyalty to him either. He also took to hexing anybody that hexed him first and when he was pushed, he pushed back even harder. After a few days of fighting back, the other students started to leave him alone. They just gave him a wide berth and avoided him as much as they could.
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the professors noticed the change in the student's behavior and investigated on what was the cause. It wasn't long before he was confronted by Professor McGonagall. 'Now she shows up to do something about the situation. Only it's not to help me, but to take me to see that back stabbing Headmaster.'
"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster would like to see you in his office." She said with a disapproving and disappointed look on her face. He wasn't able to stop the glare directed at her but was able to stop the snarl that was just begging to be released.
"What would he want to see me about, Professor?" he asked as politely as he could, but he could still hear some of the anger leaking through his tone.
Narrowing her eyes at the boy for the tone he talked to her with, she decided to ignore it for now.
"It has come to our attention that you have been hexing the students and pushing them around. The Headmaster would like to speak to you about your appalling behavior."
Shaking from holding back the anger he felt he responded to her accusation.
"Oh? Tell me Professor, if you will. What is going to happen to the students who went around hexing me and pushing me first? I know you know what they have been doing. I just have to wonder why you haven't done anything to put a stop to it. But, when I start to defend myself, was when you decided to interfere." He asked silkily with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Spluttering from being surprised at the way she was talked to. She pulled herself to her full height (which towered over him to his chagrin) and glared at him.
"How dare you speak to me that way?! 50 points will be taken from Gryffindor for your disrespect, Mr. Potter. I will not be talked to in such a way. Now, come along. The Headmaster is waiting for you in his office and he doesn't have all day to waste waiting for you to be done with your dilly dallying." She sniffed in disdain.
Left behind gaping at her, he couldn't believe that she just avoided addressing his treatment by the other students before he got a back bone and started to defend himself. 'How dare I? How dare she?! She is supposed to be my Head of House! Which if I remember correctly, one of her responsibilities is to take care of the entire student body under her care, including me. Well, she is a Professor, so really all the students are under her care whether or not they are in her House.' He amended. 'That's not the point though. The point is that I was being bullied and she did absolutely nothing to help me.' He fumed at the thought of the injustice shown to him once again.
Having no other choice, he followed after her unhappily. He didn't want to be anywhere near the Headmaster in any way. In fact, the past month and a half, he had been in the library (hidden from Hermione) scoring through the shelves looking for any books on other magical schools that he could transfer to. So far, his luck has been zilch. He even thought about asking Madam Pince about any books that might be in her library but he feared she would snitch to Professor Dumbledore on what type of book he was looking for.
"Hurry up, Mr. Potter. Stop dragging your feet." Professor McGonagall called behind herself sternly. He was walking about 5 feet away from her and he guessed that was too slow for her taste. He didn't, however, speed up to satisfy her. He had no interest in listening to a person who would ignore him being hurt but would come around when he started to defend himself to scold him for it. All he did was glare at her stubbornly and then look away. They were almost to the office and he wanted to slow down even more and would have done it too if he didn't want to get this over and done with already.
'Besides, I'm kind of scared of what he will do when we are alone. I refuse to ask her for help when I know she wouldn't lift a finger to do so.' He thought bitterly. He had absolutely no allies in this school which was kind of depressing really.
"We are here Mr. Potter." Snapping out of his thought, he looked up to see the Professor turn to the Gargoyle and utter "Starburst" which made the Gargoyle jump to the side and show a revolving stone staircase leading up. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go on up now. Don't keep the Headmaster waiting any longer. He is a very busy man after all."
"If he's so busy, why does he want to see me in the first place when he obviously has "better" things to do then to see little old me?" he bit out through clinched teeth and glared blackly at her. The way she said it made him feel as if he wasn't even worth the dirt on her shoes.
"50 points will be taken from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, for your cheek." She said. Grabbing him on the shoulder in a firm grip, she pushed him towards the stairs and said, "Detention for a week starting today after dinner. Don't be late." With that said, she turned and left him staring at her back in disbelief for the second time that day. 'She still hasn't answered any of my questions!' he thought indignantly.
Huffing out in frustration, he started up the stairs then paused at the door contemplating knocking or just leaving. 'This wouldn't be a good idea, considering a Professor would just come and get me again and put me in even more trouble than before.' He thought. Lifting his hand to knock, he froze when he heard a grandfatherly voice call out for him to enter.
"Come on in Mr. Potter." He took a deep breath to help calm his racing heart from the surprise he got when the voice called out to him by name through a solid wood door. Opening the door, he entered the red and gold office with its weird gadgets here and there. Going to the overstuffed left red chair in front of the desk, he sat down after Professor Dumbledore indicated for him to sit.
"I was told that you wanted to see me Headmaster?" he asked politely if not a little coldly.
Peering over his half-moon glasses, he observed the boy in front of him. He was trying to catch his eyes so that he can slip into his mind and see what was going on but the boy wouldn't look up from his hands in his lap. "Yes, I did, my dear boy. It has come to our attention that you have taken to hexing and pushing the other students." He gave the boy his patent disappointed grandfatherly look. "I must say that I am disappointed that you have started to bully the other students to get your way, my boy." He said sadly.
Harry snapped his head up to glare at the Headmaster, not knowing that Professor Dumbldore took this opportunity to slip into his mind, for accusing him of being a bully. Just because he was defending himself from the other students did not mean he was a bully! "I was not bullying anyone! I was defending myself from their attacks! Something you and the other Professors knew they were doing but decided not to do anything about!" he snarled in anger. 'How dare he accuse me of bullying?! I am not my cousin or uncle.'
Raising his hand in a placating manner, Dumbledore put his hands on his desk when the boy calmed down though his breathing was a little bit irregular.
"Calm, Mr. Potter. Regardless, if they attacked you first or not, you shouldn't have attacked them back. You should have forgiven them and tried to get them to see that you were not a threat to them." He told him sternly.
Harry gapped unattractively at the Headmaster in disbelief; he couldn't comprehend what he was just told. "Are you trying to say that its okay for them to attack me but it's not okay for me to defend myself?" He asked confused and angrily.
"No, Mr. Potter. I was saying that you shouldn't stoop to their level, but rise above it and be the better man." Dumbledore said solemnly and sliding his hand unnoticed to his wand in preparation to cast the Obliviate Spell to block the memory of stumbling upon his and the youngest Weasley boy's conversation he had found in the boy's mind when he was searching through it. 'If my office was not so accessible to others that come around unannounced, I would have held the meeting here instead of an abandoned classroom. Though, I should have warded the room from eavesdroppers in the first place.' He thought disgruntledly.
"I didn't attack them back at first." He growled. "I had expected the professors of this institution to put a stop to it when they saw what was going on. But oh no, that wasn't going to happen at all. Instead, THEY TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THE WHOLE THING!" He yelled at the end, fed up with the unfairness of his treatment by everybody he was supposed to trust to protect him.
"Sit down, Mr. Potter!" Dumbledore demanded evenly. Harry sat back down, he didn't even notice he had stood up in the first place, and glared petulantly at the elder in front of him. "I will not be spoken to like that Mr. Potter. I understand that you are upset, but I must take 50 points from Gryffindor and a month's detention for attacking the other students and another 10 points for your disrespect."
He gritted his teeth, crossed his arms, and said nothing else. 'What's the point when they don't care to listen to anything I have to say?' He thought. He was also very angry that he had points taken and had to serve a month's detention for defending himself. Thinking that, he wasn't able to keep quiet anymore.
"What is going to happen to the students that attacked me first?" He asked while raising an eyebrow, not believing for one moment that they would do anything to punish those students.
"I think they have been punished enough having to deal with your retaliation hexes." Dumbledore said grimly. "I will also ask that you tell me how to reverse some of the hexes you casted so that we can reverse them and the students stuck in the Hospital Wing can go back to their lives."
Harry scowled at the thought of helping the ones that were hexing him viciously before he got fed up with it and began to dish out what was given to him. He was smug, though, that he was able to find hexes the Professors weren't able to find the counters for. He found them in the Restricted Section in the Library which he used his Invisibility Cloak to get into.
"I am afraid that I don't know the counter to them. I never bothered to learn them." He responded though it was untrue. He did in fact learn the counters, just in case they were ever casted on him, he would be able to reverse them. The only reason he didn't start yelling about how unfair it was to let the other students go without punishment was because he knew that no matter what he said or did, it wouldn't change a thing.
Not being able to tell if the Potter boy lied to him because he couldn't look into his mind to see since he was once again looking at his lap he had to let that one go. Harry was very good at lying to others and to himself.
"Very well, my dear boy, I believe you. Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked while pointing to the candy dish full of the sweets on his desk. Seeing the boy shake his head no, he grabbed one and popped it into his mouth, calming him down from the frustration he felt. "Is there anything you wish to tell me, my dear boy?" another head shake. "Very well then, I think you have a class to go to right now. You should get to it. I will write you a note saying that you were with me so you don't get into any more trouble." He put his wand on his lap so he could write the note and grabbed his wand again when he held out the note to the boy with a (fake) warm smile and a twinkle in his eyes
When the boy reached over to get the note, he took his chance and pointed his wand at the boy's face. Harry only had time to widen his eyes in terror before his mind when blank for a second.
"You will forget the meeting between myself and Ronald Weasley completely. The reason you distanced yourself from your friends is in the hope that they didn't get any backlash for being your friend. You will also forget that you took to defending yourself and any curses or hexes you learned to do so. While in this meet you came here complaining about the treatment you got from the other students. You lost your temper when you learned that mine and the other professors' hands are tied and ended up with points lost and detention." Dumbledore commanded.
He knew it worked when the boy's eyes cleared and he said "I am sorry Headmaster. I didn't mean to lose my temper. It's just, it's getting bad. I don't know how long I can last." He said sadly.
He beamed with the twinkled in his eyes intensifying. "It's alright, dear boy. I just wish I could lift some of your burden. I do, however, believe that the students will start leaving you alone. I am sure that they are bored since you never defended yourself against them."
"Do you really think so?" Harry asked hopefully. Getting a nod, he couldn't help but beam back in happiness. He noticed the note in his hand and startled in surprise to see it. He read it and gasped. "I better get to class. I have Potions right now!" He rushed to the door, but stopped to look back. "Thank you for listening to me and for the note Professor."
"I was glad to listen. Just know that my door is always open whenever you want to talk, my boy." Dumbledore said happily. He was self-satisfied that his spell worked even though he knew it would.
Harry nodded before turning around to head to class and lost 10 points for being late even though he had a note saying he was with the Headmaster. After that day he became friends with Ron and Hermione again after he told them why he distanced himself from them in the first place. He was surprised he wasn't attacked by the other students anymore and was confused about why the Slytherins had been giving him weird looks when he passed by them. Shrugging it off, he continued on with his life.
-End Memory-
When the memory finished, Harry became aware of his surroundings for just a moment before he was pulled into another released memory.
-Second Memory-
His first lesson with Professor Lupin had been today and he was exhausted, both mentally and emotionally. He knew the boggart's dementor effect was weaker than the real one but it still was very draining to face against it. His only consolation was that he was able to produce at least a mist on his first try. He was just impatient to master the spell so he no longer had to worry as much about having his soul sucked out by those things.
He was behind a couch by the fireplace in the Common Room under his Invisibility Cloak after having been woken up by a nightmare. He had come down here so he could be alone and think without having to hear the other boy's snore loudly. He would have been on the couch itself, if he didn't fear falling asleep and having someone sit on him the next morning because they couldn't see him.
It was in first year when he came down after having a nightmare about Fluffy tearing him apart and ended up falling asleep on the couch under his Cloak. The next morning, he had a 4th year boy sit on his stomach, waking him up with his heart racing and his stomach somewhat sore. Luckily, though, it wasn't his face that was sat on or that nobody knew that it was him either. Now, that would have been embarrassing and knew he wouldn't be allowed to forget the moment ever if people knew.
He was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard soft steps coming down from the girl's dorm. Harry got up on his knees to face the direction the noise was coming from. He only had to wait a few seconds before a bushy-brown-haired girl emerged into view. The girl was average height for her age, with pale skin, brown eyes, developing chest and curves which were still hardly noticeable unless you knew the girl well. She had a book in her hands and was one of Harry's best friends, Hermione Granger.
She sat on the very couch he was behind and opened the book to read. He knew it was past 1 o'clock, so he wondered why she was up. He knew she didn't have nightmares so he didn't really understand why she would want to be up this late. He was about to throw off his Cloak and ask her if she was alright when he heard a set of loud footsteps coming from the boy's side of the dorm this time.
The boy that emerged was a red-haired and gangly boy who was tall for his age (which he pouts about in his mind all the time). He too had pale skin but a shade darker than Hermione's, blue eyes, freckles everywhere, and somewhat bushy red eyebrows. He would never say this to his face but though he was skinny, one could tell with just a passing glance, he had never worked a day in his life. He was also his other best friend, Ronald "Ron" Weasley.
"Well, it's about time you showed up." Hermione said bossily. "I don't have all night to wait for you to get up and come down, you know."
Ron gritted his teeth to prevent himself from saying anything insulting; he just tried to shrug her attitude off. "I accidentally fell asleep while waiting for the others to fall asleep. So sorry if we all don't have your will power to stay up when in a comfy bed and tired." he grouched back. "Now, why did you want to meet me here, at this time, without Harry knowing?" He sat and leaned back with his arms crossed on the couch across from her.
"I will get to that, but first. Did you make sure Harry was in his bed and sound asleep?" She asked demandingly.
"Yes, I checked. He was still there and asleep." Ron growled and lied. He didn't check to see if he was still there or not, he didn't want to waste more time by checking. He was tired, it was late at night, and wanted to go back to bed. He didn't want to be around her more than he had to, so wished she would hurry up and tell him what she wanted to tell him. "So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?"
Harry kind of felt guilty spying on his best friends, but his curiosity wouldn't let him ignore what was about to be said. 'What could she have to tell Ron that she can't tell me?' He wondered. He knows that his two friends aren't the biggest fans of each other, so the thought that they are sharing secrets with each other was kind of disconcerting.
"Very well, Ronald, I will tell you." She started, as if it was Ron who wanted to talk to her and not the other way around. "Over Christmas break, I was approached by Professor Dumbledore with a proposition that I was more than willing to do. Can you guess what he asked me to do for him? I will give a hint; you have a similar job as the one I have been given." She said in a smug and superior tone of voice. Now, they really have his attention. 'What did Professor Dumbledore ask them to do?' He wondered.
"Just tell me!" Ron practically exploded but knew enough to keep his volume down to a medium so he didn't bring down any of the other students. He was in no mood to play her game, whatever it was.
"Really Ronald? It not like it's hard to guess." she sniffed in distain to the boy in front of her. "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to help you spy on Harry. He's afraid that if we don't keep an eye on him, he will turn Dark and become a Dark Lord in the future." she relented after being glared at when she gave a pause to see if he would say anything.
Harry had to stifle a shocked and hurt gasp. He couldn't believe what he just heard. His best friends had agreed to spy on him for Professor Dumbledore. 'I know Hermione just started, though that doesn't mean she hasn't spilled any of my secrets to the Headmaster already, but how long has Ron been spying on me?'
"I don't need nor want your help in this. Why don't you stick with staying in the Library and away from us." he hissed. He felt insulted to have the Headmaster bring that know-it-all to spy on Harry. "Are you being paid as well to do this?" he asked. He hoped she wasn't, but knew it was a possibility.
'They're being paid to spy on me? Everything we did together was a lie? How could they do this to me?' He thought angrily. He didn't do anything even if his instincts were telling him to attack the ones who had betrayed him. He still wanted to know more and he didn't want to go to prison with his wand snapped.
"Yes. He's paying me 500 galleons and a new book a month to spy on Harry." she said conceitedly, puffing out her chest a little.
Ron scowled at her, "Is this all you wanted to tell me?" he snapped. He didn't like the thought that she was getting paid as well. 'That money could have gone to me. Not only that, she also gets something other than money. I know books can get expensive, so really she is getting paid way more than I am.' he thought jealously.
Hermione was a little put out that he didn't really react to the news of how much she was being paid. "Yes. Oh, Professor Dumbledore wants us to work together to make sure Harry never learns anything he doesn't want him to know. He also wants to make sure that Harry stays isolated from the rest of the school." she said this in a rush when Ronald stood up and began heading for the boy's dorm.
He stopped in his tracks and glanced back, "I already knew about all of that. I have been doing just fine in that regard without your input thank you very much. Good night." with that said he went to the dorm without giving her another chance to say anything more.
She huffed in aggravation, with a hurt look on her face as well and got up with her book in hand and went back to her dorm to sleep.
The two unknowingly left behind a furious and hurt Harry Potter whom was plotting on what he could do to get even with them. 'I will make them regret ever betraying me.' He thought darkly. He would stand no type of betrayal after finding out how his parent were betrayed by their friend and then murdered by Voldemort. "They are no better than that traitorous Sirius Black!" he muttered under his breath.
The next few days weren't the most pleasant for Ron or Hermione. They had been tripped, pranked, had their bags rip open with all their things spilling out, and other small accidents happened to them. What they didn't know was that it was Harry himself who was causing these incidents to happen to them. He didn't want to do anything big to them that would cause attention to be drawn to them and have the situation investigated. The pranks were harmless but no less humiliating and done in a way that couldn't be blamed on the Weasley twins.
Harry also took to avoiding them whenever he could and since he knew the school better now than ever before it was an easy thing to accomplish thanks to the Marauder's Map which told him where they were at all times, it had helped him immensely. He found little niches to hide in when he was unable to avoid them completely, especially after classes and meal times. Mostly, he stayed in abandoned classrooms in abandoned parts of the castle after dinner until curfew.
Harry was walking around the Great Lake to help clear his mind. Lately, he felt suffocated being stuck inside all the time. While Hogwarts is a big place with many parts that were abandoned, he just kept getting the feeling that the walls were slowly converging on him, about to crush him. At first he considered Hogwarts his very first home, now though, the only thing he felt about the school was that it was as much of a prison as Privet Drive was.
'I will never hate Hogwarts itself, I just wish the other humans would just go away. They are the reason why Hogwarts is not the safe and caring home it's supposed to be anymore.' He thought sadly. Walking on the side closest to the school, he looked at the castle and saw the Owlery. 'I will go visit Hedwig. She has always made me feel better after talking to her and it has been a while since I have seen her.' He nodded decisively and headed back into the castle so he could get to the Owlery. Harry knew that all he had to do to see her was to think of needing her and she would come. It's just that he wanted to go to her instead of her always coming to him if he wanted to interact with her. 'It's not fair to her. She was the first friend I ever had and I won't treat her as if she is some common pet.'
It was on the way to the Owlery, that he was intercepted by Professor Dumbledore. Freezing in his tracks, he cursed himself for not looking at the Map before coming back inside. He wanted to curse and hex the Headmaster for what he was doing (paying people to spy on him) but new that he wouldn't be able to land even one hex on the old man. He also didn't want to get expelled and have his wand snapped. He was quite possessive of it after all, even if it was the brother wand to Voldemort's.
"Good evening Professor. I hope you are having a wonderful day." He said politely with a hint of sarcasm. If the Headmaster noticed his tone, he didn't show it outwardly.
"Good evening my dear boy. Yes, today has been wonderful so far." He beamed with a twinkle in his eyes. He was annoyed at the tone of voice he was talked with but he let it slide for now and kept up his grandfatherly mask to keep hidden the irritation he felt. "Lemon drop?" he asked while holding a velvet brown bag out towards Harry, which he didn't notice was in the old man's hands until he said something about it. Getting a no, he shrugged and popped one into his mouth.
"Is there something you need Professor?" he prompted. He wanted to get to Hedwig and spend some quality time with her.
Humming for a moment, "I am afraid so my dear boy. I, and of course the other professors, have noticed that you and your friends have drifted apart. I have found myself curious on what had caused it."
He narrowed his eyes at the Headmaster and had to hold back a mocking snort from being heard. 'I bet you do old man.' He thought negatively. On the outside, he put on a sad and resigned face, "I don't know Professor. We just drifted apart without any of us really noticing it was happening. Its better this way, now we can focus on our studies and not have to worry about what the other is doing." He said while putting on a brave face, as if he was trying to reassure himself. 'If I wanted fame, I would make an excellent actor.' He jokingly thought.
"I am sorry to hear that my boy. Perhaps, you are not trying hard enough to stay as friends? Don't give up so soon when you hit a hurtle in your relationship. I am sure that they want to be your friend still." Smiling warmly, he popped another lemon drop into his mouth.
Harry looked at the Headmaster in the eyes, "I will think on what you said Professor. I don't know if we will continue to be friends, but you are right, I shouldn't just give up. We have been friends for the past couple of years, I am sure we can work it all out." He said in a fake happy voice with a beaming smile on his face even if he wanted to be sick at the very thought. He missed the Headmaster stiffening slightly; too busy thinking of ways to leave.
'He was notified once again that he was being taken advantage of. I will be having a talk with those two about discretion. Damn him and that Merlin be damned Cloak!' Dumbledore thought angrily.
"I am happy to hear that my dear boy. The strongest bond one can have is that of love after all and your friends love you very much even if they sometimes don't show it." Putting his bag of lemon drops into his robe's pocket, he grabbed hold of his wand. "I am afraid that I must be going now. Being a Headmaster among other things makes me very busy. I hope to see you at dinner my boy." He kind of rushed though Harry hasn't noticed; he just nodded and walked past the Headmaster.
With his back turned to the man, he never knew that Dumbledore pointed his wand at him and casted the Obliviate Spell on him. "You will forget that Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley ever talked about being paid to spy and isolate you and that you retaliated against them. You really thought that you and your friends had become more distant with each other and after taking my advice you will make up with them." He said in a commanding voice. He was satisfied when he heard the boy muttering about finding Ron and Mione to work on their friendship. He went back to his office humming happily that he was able to prevent any of his plans from being ruined because of two careless brats unable to keep their mouth shut.
After making up with Ron and Mione, life went back to the way it used to be. Though, now they were even closer than before. What confused him was that the Slytherins were giving him calculating looks, as if they are trying to puzzle out something. That was baffling him but he decided not to dwell on it too much. What he and Professor Dumbledore didn't know was that a sixth year Slytherin saw the whole situation go down between them and told the rest of the House about it. The only Slytherin that didn't know about it was the Head of House himself. They didn't want the information that they knew what the Headmaster did to the 'Golden Boy' getting back him. That could prove disastrous for their health.
-End Memory-
Groaning himself back to the present, he wished he could rip his head off so he wouldn't feel the headache pounding away. He tried to sit up but had to lay back down when he became dizzy and a little bit nauseated. He heard an amused chuckle beside him. He looked in that direction and came across the amused face of one Healer Took.
"I shouldn't move just yet, Harry. Your mind has gone through a lot of stress even before I started to release your memories back to you. Your returning memories put even more stress on your mind since it adds emotional turmoil to your already weary mind. Here, this should help with the headache you are experiencing at the moment." He stated after getting his amusement back under control. He handed a Headache Reliever Potion over to Harry and watched as he chugged it down really fast, amusing him again with the face he made when he tasted it regardless of doing everything he could not to.
"Thank you. That really helped a lot." Harry said gratefully. He could already feel his headache lessening as the seconds went by. This time when he sat up, he did it slowly and was happy when he didn't get dizzy or felt any nausea.
"When are you going to do the other four memories?" he asked exhaustedly. At the moment, all he wanted to do was find a bed and go to sleep.
"I am afraid that your mind won't be able to handle anymore released memories for the next couple of days. If I were to continue to release them without your mind accepting the ones that were already released, it could make your mind snap from the pressure it was put through." He said seriously. "I would have been able to release one more memory today if you hadn't gone through the rituals earlier. At the moment, you're on the verge of collapsing into a magical coma from everything you went through. I rather not risk it."
"Oh." Was all Harry could say, he was horrified at the thought of falling into a coma. If that happened, then he would be vulnerable to the outside forces being able to do whatever they wanted to do to him, and he wouldn't be able to do a bloody thing about it.
The healer nodded in agreement with Harry's sentiments, "Yes, it is shocking but still true. I will be spelling a delayed time release on your other memories so you don't have to keep coming to me to have it done. I will have your next two to three memories released in three to four days. Your last memory/memories release will be after another three to four days after that, it depends if your mind can handle more than two at that time, and it would all happen at night when you go to bed so you don't have to worry about dropping down out of the blue in the middle of you doing something." He gave Lord Potter-Black a warm smile when he released a relief breath.
'I am glad that I don't have to visit a Hospital or something to get the rest of my memories back.' Harry thought happily.
"Other than giving you a potion regiment to help you with your malnutrition there is nothing else I can do for you right now, you are free to go." With that being said, the Healer went to the table and started to write something on a piece of parchment. "I will give you the first week's doses which you should take at every meal. After that, you can owl order them or go to any apothecary to get them." It was a few more minutes of writing before he was done and handed the parchment and a small wooden box over to Harry.
"Thank you for everything you have done, Healer Took." He said sincerely, putting the parchment and the wooden box into his pocket. The wooden box made his pocket bulge out in its shape.
"It was my pleasure. Now, just let me cast the spells needed and you can be on your way." Lifting his wand at Harry's head again, he started to cast. "Alright, that should do it, just remember that the memories will be released at 10:00pm so make sure you are lying down by then." Healer Took said seriously. "You are free to go and have a good day." He said warmly after getting a nod of understanding from his patient.
He got up and went back to the main room, leaving the Healer to pack up and go wherever he was needed. Harry stopped after closing the door behind him, which became one with the wall again, when he noticed how tense the atmosphere in the room was. Looking at Ginny, he saw how uncomfortable she looked being alone in the room with the goblin. Her face lightened up considerable when she saw him reentered the room.
"Hey, Ginny, sorry it took so long." He said.
"It's alright. It wasn't that long." She answered with a shake of her head.
Raising an eyebrow at her in disbelief, he let it go and turned to Bloodtooth "I would like to go to the Black Vault now to get the protective jewelry for Ginny, if you don't mind?" He asked politely.
"There is a goblin outside waiting to take you there. Here are all the folders on your houses that you should look over as well as the book lists about how to run them." Bloodtooth growled. He was glad that he didn't have to answer any more questions that day. "Also, make sure to be careful, there are cursed objects running throughout the Vault." He warned the humans.
He nodded to show he heard and understood, he headed for the door with Ginny right behind him after grabbing the folders and shrinking them so they could fit into his pocket 'I could get used to using magic whenever I want.' "Let's hurry so we can go home and go to sleep. I am about to fall asleep where I stand at any moment."
They were taken to the vault by the goblin that was waiting for them (just like Bloodtooth said he would be) and were amazed to see what was hidden behind that door. It was a huge cave like structure with mini-caves lining the back walls containing other treasures. Holding back the desire to explore the whole vault, he only looked for the jewelry they came here for. It took an hour to find the type of jewelry they were searching for because the vault was so big and they didn't know where anything was. He could feel his body shaking from being so tired and his body's need to rest.
"Pick one, Ginny." He told her.
She looked over each one carefully, not noticing Harry's shaking, and was drawn to a simple necklace. It had a pure silver chain with a pure silver Quaternary Celtic Knot pendent. The chain was long enough that she would be able to hide it under her robe so her Mother or brother would not be able to see it.
"This one is the one I want." She said a little breathlessly.
Nodding to show her he didn't mind, he headed to the vault's door so they could leave. When he got back into the cart, he slumped somewhat trying his best to stay awake. 'I should have had asked for another Pepper-up Potion before I left the Healer.' He cursed his forgetfulness because he was now paying for it. Ginny still didn't notice anything about Harry, much too in awe of her new necklace. When they got back to the surface, they head for the Main Chamber so they could leave and go home.
Except when they got there, they had to stop and hide against the wall of the hallway they just came from, when they saw an Order member waiting there properly for him to show up. "Merlin, when will they leave me alone?" he muttered angrily under his breath glaring at the person through tired eyes.
"I can distract him so you can slip out. I have to go back anyways." Ginny offered.
He thought about the pros and cons and couldn't come up with anything to object. "Make sure they don't find out the real reason why you are still in Gringotts. Even if the necklace can't be taken off you without my permission, I wouldn't put it past them to make your life a living Hell." He told her seriously.
He got a nod as response and a slight glare for doubting her. She went to the Order member and got him to turn away from his direction and the doors successfully. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he trusted her to know what she is doing. Instead, he focused on getting out and using his ring to portkey him to the apartment he wanted to live in.
Harry apparated into what appeared to be the living room of the apartment, not really taking anything in, he headed for the hallway that ran off the room he appeared in, collapsed on the first bed he found, and fell right to sleep. The last thought that ran through his mind before it went blank was 'I should have had Ginny checked out by the Healer as well.'
